The Arizona Wildcats defeated the Oregon State Beavers 35-14 this Saturday, giving fans even more optimism after a rough start. Four Pac-12 teams were on their bye this week, but the four games played were all exciting as hell, with a Friday night shootout, a primetime comeback, and a near-miss of an upset.

Here’s a recap for the rest of the Pac-12 in Week 4.

USC 39, Washington State 36

Friday night #Pac-12AfterDark returned with a vengeance this week, as both teams put on a show in the Coliseum.

JT Daniels is having a prototypical true freshman season, making brilliant plays followed by head-scratching mistakes. For the first time, the former outnumbered the latter this week. Daniels went 17 of 26 passing with 241 yards and three scores. There were some absolute dimes thrown by Daniels as well, plus amazing play from SC receivers Michael Pittman and Amon-Ra St. Brown.

Washington State performed quite well too. For most of the first three quarters, the Cougars were in control. Gardner Minshew continued to look just as good as predecessors Connor Halliday and Luke Falk. James Williams was able to give WSU some decent running plays and an impressive seven catches for a wide receiver.

After multiple lead changes and two-point attempts, it all came down to a game-tying field goal attempt for Washington State kicker Blake Mazza. Unfortunately for Wazzu, it was blocked, and USC escaped to push their record to .500 both overall and in Pac-12 play.

No. 7 Stanford 38, No. 20 Oregon 31 (OT)

Speaking of exciting, high scoring games, Stanford and Oregon played in what is an early candidate for game of the year.

Oregon and star quarterback Justin Herbert were absolutely dominant for the first 40 minutes of this one, building a 24-7 lead late in the third. After missing out on another touchdown by the tiniest of margins, a bad snap led to a Stanford scoop ‘n score. After that, the Cardinal had all the momentum. Nevertheless, Oregon was still able to keep their lead, and had the ball up 31-28 with a minute left. Incredibly, CJ Verdell, who’d had an amazing game, fumbled the ball when running out the clock and Stanford had another chance.

With a Jet Toner field goal, Stanford forced overtime. One incredible catch by Colby Parkinson later, and all the pressure was on Oregon. After throwing just two incompletions in regulation and playing like a superstar, Herbert threw five incompletions in overtime, including an interception on a do-or-die fourth and goal.

This game had absolutely everything: great players making great plays, a great environment with College GameDay and excited fans in Eugene, and a stunning comeback. Whether this game has the divisional stakes we expect it to or not, this will be remembered as one of the Pac-12’s finest moments of 2018.

No. 10 Washington 27, Arizona State 20

The Huskies and Sun Devils slugged it out in Seattle for Pac-12 After Dark, but UW kept their Playoff aspirations alive with a hard-fought win.

Jake Browning has received a fair amount of criticism recently from Washington fans, especially after a disastrous performance last week against Utah. However, he looked like a four-year starter this weekend, going 15 of 22 for 202 yards and three scores, and making virtually no mistakes. Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed kept the Husky running game going, and the team made just enough plays to beat this Sun Devil defense.

On the other side, despite OK performances all around, the feeling has to be frustration for ASU. Manny Wilkins went 17-27 through the air, but only managed 104 yards for a paltry 3.9 yards per attempt. Eno Benjamin reached 104 yards on the ground, but it took him 26 carries to do so, and his longest run was a decent but not great 15 yards. By far the most frustrating thing here for Sun Devil fans must be N’Keal Harry. Harry had two receptions entering the fourth, and only got up to five by the end of the game, managing just 20 yards. Harry was visibly frustrated in the third, clearly wanting more targets from Wilkins. He was as explosive as ever in the return game, making many Huskies miss for a forty-yard scamper on a long punt.

Washington escaped with a key win, and ASU managed to challenge UW on an off night. It’s looking more and more like this Pac-12 season will be a bloodbath.

Updated standings